The Byzantine Empire may have had a population of over 30 million at its height.
After the reign of Emperor Heraclius and the loss of all of its overseas borders, Byzantine territories were pretty much limited to the Balkans and Anatolia. When Byzantium began to recover after a series of conflicts in the 8th century and its territories stabilized, its population began to recover. By the end of the 8th century there were 7,000,000 Byzantines, a figure that climbed to 12,000,000 people by 1025.[1] The numbers began falling steadily to 9,000,000 people at 1204 and even lower to 5,000,000 people at 1281 with the arrival of the Turks.[2]
| Year |
Population |
Notes |
Area |
| 300 |
17,000,000 |
|
Eastern Roman Empire[3] |
| 311 |
18,000,000 |
|
Eastern Roman Empire[3] |
| 457 |
16,000,000 |
|
Eastern Roman Empire[3] |
| 540 |
19,000,000 |
|
Byzantine Empire[4] |
| 565 |
26,000,000 |
|
Byzantine Empire[4] |
| 600 |
17,000,000 |
|
Byzantine Empire[4] |
| 780 |
7,000,000 |
|
Byzantine Empire[5] |
| 1025 |
12,000,000 |
|
Byzantine Empire[1] |
| 1097 |
5,000,000 |
|
Byzantine Empire[2] |
| 1143 |
10,000,000 |
|
Byzantine Empire[2] |
| 1204 |
9,000,000 |
|
Byzantine Empire[2] |
| 1282 |
5,000,000 |
|
Byzantine Empire[6] |
| 1328 |
2,600,000 |
|
Byzantine Empire[6] |
| 1453 |
4,500,000 |
|
Greece proper + Asia Minorcitation needed |
References
- ^ a b W. Treadgold, A History of the Byzantine State and Society, 570
- ^ a b c d W. Treadgold, A History of the Byzantine State and Society, 700
- ^ a b c W. Treadgold, A History of the Byzantine State and Society, 137
- ^ a b c W. Treadgold, A History of the Byzantine State and Society, 278
- ^ H. Wiseman, Roman maps
- ^ a b W. Treadgold, A History of the Byzantine State and Society, 841
Bibliography
- Angeliki E. Laiou, "The Economic History of Byzantium", 2002.
- Warren Treadgold, "History of the Byzantine State and Society", 1999
- Mcevedy and Jones, "Atlas of world population history", 1978
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